In this paper, we propose new generation methods of two-dimensional (2D) optical zero-correlation zone (ZCZ) sequences with the high peak autocorrelation amplitude. The 2D optical ZCZ sequence consists of a pair of a binary sequence which takes 1 or 0 and a bi-phase sequence which takes 1 or -1, and has a zero-correlation zone in the two-dimensional correlation function. Because of these properties, the 2D optical ZCZ sequence is suitable for optical code-division multiple access (OCDMA) system using an LED array having a plurality of light-emitting elements arranged in a lattice pattern. The OCDMA system using the 2D optical ZCZ sequence can be increased the data rate and can be suppressed interference by the light of adjacent LEDs. By using the proposed generation methods, we can improve the peak autocorrelation amplitude of the sequence. This means that the BER performance of the OCDMA system using the sequence can be improved.

As a modulation scheme for optical wireless communication, there is MPolSK (multilevel polarization shift keying) that modulates a state of polarization of light. MPolSK has a problem that it is severely affected by mismatched polarization axes. Although MDPolSK (multilevel differential PolSK) can overcome the problem, it is susceptible to noise, and its SER (symbol error rate) degrades as compared to MPolSK. In this paper, we propose one kind of MDPolSK that estimates the mismatched polarization axes in the receiver. We analyzed SER of the proposed scheme by computer simulations. The result shows that the proposed scheme is not affected by the mismatched polarization axes, and it provides a good SER as compared to the conventional MDPolSK. In addition, we modified the constellation used in the proposed scheme to improve SER.

A new class of visible light communication (VLC) systems, namely image sensor (IS) based VLC systems, has emerged. An IS consists of a two-dimensional (2D) array of photodetectors (PDs), and then VLC systems with an IS receiver are capable of exploiting the spatial dimensions invoked for transmitting information. This paper aims for providing a brief survey of topics related to the IS-based VLC, and then provides a matrix representation of how to map a series of one dimensional (1D) symbols onto a set of 2D symbols for efficiently exploit the associate grade of freedom offered by 2D VLC systems. As an example, the matrix representation is applied to the symbol mapping of layered space-time coding (L-STC), which is presented to enlarge the coverage of IS-based VLC that is limited by pixel resolution of ISs.

In this paper, we investigate the channel characteristics of underwater optical wireless communications (UOWC) based on Monte Carlo simulation method. The impulse response and channel time dispersion of the link are discussed. Also we consider the channel parameters comprehensively like the water type, attenuation length, divergence angle, beam width, field-of-view (FOV), receiver aperture and position. Simulation results suggest that in clear water, the channel can effectively be considered as non inter-symbol interference (ISI) when working over distance of up to 40m. Therefore, in practice the receiver does not need to perform computationally complex signal processing operations. However, in harbor water, the channel time dispersion will enlarge with larger FOV or divergence angle, and reduce the data transmission efficiency. When the attenuation length is smaller than diffused length, larger receivers offer lower intensity than smaller ones. In contrast, the intensity enhances with larger receiver at the small FOV, however, they trend to similar regardless of the apertures at large FOV. Furthermore, we study the effect of misalignment of the transmitter and receiver on the received intensity. The results give us some insight in terms of what constitutes an accurate UOWC channel.

One of the major subjects for marine resources development and information processing is how to realize underwater short-range and large-capacity data transmissions. The acoustic wave is an effective carrier and has been used for underwater data transmissions because it has lower attenuation in seawater than the radio wave, and has average propagation distance of about 10km or more. However, along with the imaging of transmission data, the inherent low speed of the acoustic wave makes it cannot and become an ideal carrier for high-speed and large-capacity communications. On the other hand, visible-light wave with wavelength of 400nm-650nm is an ideal carrier, which has received much attention. Its attractive features are high transparency and low attenuation rate in underwater, easily control the propagation direction and range by the visibility, and high data rate and capacity, making it excellent for application in underwater wireless communications. However, visible-light waves in the seawater have the spectral attenuation characteristics due to different marine environment. Therefore, in this paper an underwater optical wireless communication method with adaptation seawater function is considered for seawater turbidity of the spatio-temporal change. Two crucial components in the underwater optical wireless communication system, the light wavelength and the modulation method are controlled using wavelength- and modulation-adaptation techniques, respectively. The effectiveness of the method of the adaptation wavelength is demonstrated in underwater optical image transmissions.

Circular Polarized Optical OFDM (CPO-OFDM) is a system that applies OFDM to optical wireless communications. This system separates OFDM signals into positive and negative signals and converts these signals into left-handed and right-handed polarization and then multiplexes the resulting polarized signals. In CPO-OFDM, the separated signals must be combined at the receiver. Then, as a noise-reduction method, the comparison method compares the signal amplitudes of the positive and negative signals and uses the signal having the larger amplitude as the received signal. However, if we use the comparison method when the received signals have background light, the combined signals are distorted. In the present paper, we herein report a method by which the receiver estimates the amplitude of the background light and then removes the background light, which is easily accomplished. Furthermore, we also report a theoretical method for analyzing the bit error rate (BER). We develop a closed form of the theoretical formula for the BER in an additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel. By using this formula and through numerical integration, we investigate the theoretical BER for a scintillation channel. We compare the results of the theoretical analysis with those of the simulations. As a result, the theoretical BER is generally coincident with the BER obtained through simulation. Even if we use the closed-form formula, we can derive the BER with sufficient accuracy.

As one of optical wireless Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) systems, there is Flip-OFDM, which separates an OFDM signal into positive and negative parts and transmits them. It has good power efficiency and low hardware complexity. However, the system halves transmission efficiency compared with Direct Current-biased Optical OFDM. In this paper, Circular Polarized Optical OFDM (CPO-OFDM) is presented. This system separates OFDM signals into positive and negative parts, and it converts these signals into left-handed and right-handed polarization, and it multiplexes these signals. CPO-OFDM is analyzed with an intensity modulation/direct detection channel model which considers the change of the state of polarization owing to free space propagation. As a result of the analysis, it is shown that CPO-OFDM is a flexible system like the conventional systems by using circular polarization and it has the equivalent bit error rate (BER) and the double transmission efficiency compared with Flip-OFDM. The IM/DD channel model which considers the degree of polarization (DOP) is also shown. As for the DOP, it improves by the increase of the propagation distance. Thus, we can achieve the equivalent BER obtained with a high DOP laser even if we use a low DOP laser.

A code shift keying (CSK) using pseudo-noise (PN) codes for optical wireless communications with intensity/modulation and direct detection (IM/DD) is considered. Since CSK has several PN codes, the data transmission rate and the bit error rate (BER) performance can be improved by increasing the number of PN codes. However, the conventional optical PN codes are not suitable for optical CSK with IM/DD because the ratio of the number of PN codes and the code length of PN code, M/L is smaller than 1/√L. In this paper, an optical CSK with a new PN code, which combines the generalized modified prime sequence code (GMPSC) and Hadamard code is analyzed. The new PN code can achieve M/L=1. Moreover, the BER performance and the data transmission rate of the CSK system with the new PN code are evaluated through theoretical analysis by taking the scintillation, background-noise, avalanche photodiode (APD) noise, thermal noise, and signal dependent noise into account. It is found that the CSK system with the new PN code outperforms the conventional optical CSK system.

This paper analyzes the transmission performances of visible light communication (VLC) based on unipolar orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), which is compatible with intensity modulation and direct detection (IM/DD). Three existing unipolar OFDM schemes, namely DC biased optical OFDM (DCO-OFDM), asymmetrically clipped optical OFDM (ACO-OFDM), and flip-OFDM are investigated and compared. While these three schemes have been analyzed for indoor optical wireless communication (OWC) subject to the limitation on the transmit optical power, they have not been carefully investigated and compared for VLC when a large transmit power is available due to the illumination requirement, and the signal dynamic range (DR) becomes the main limitation. For the analysis, DR expressions of DCO-OFDM, ACO-OFDM, and flip-OFDM signals are first derived. Then, the bit error rate (BER) expression of each unipolar OFDM scheme is derived in terms of the DR. For data rates in the range of 1-10Mbps, under the system parameters based on typical indoor environments, DCO-OFDM is observed to outperform the other two schemes. This superiority of DCO-OFDM is in contrast with previously reported results that indicate the attractiveness of ACO-OFDM and flip-OFDM over DCO-OFDM when the transmit optical power is the main limitation. Finally, light dimming is considered to identify the illumination level below which DCO-OFDM loses this superiority.

In this paper, we investigate a combination scheme of subcarrier intensity-modulation (SIM) with spatial modulation (SM) for optical wireless communication. Using computer simulation, the performances of the proposed SIM/SM scheme are investigated and compared with those of the conventional SIM scheme in the additive white gaussian noise (AWGN) as well as in outdoor environment with turbulence induced fading characteristics. Numerical results show that the proposed SIM/SM scheme can outperform the conventional SIM in an environment with different spectral efficiencies. When the spectral efficiency is varied from 2bits/s/Hz to 4bits/s/Hz, an Eb/N0 gain of 2dB to 5dB is achieved, when the bit error rate of 10-5 is maintained. It shows that the employment of SM may further improve the power efficiency of SIM, when the number of subcarriers increases according to the spectral efficiency. When the spectral efficiency is 4bits/s/Hz, the SIM/SM scheme for 0.5 of log-irradiance variance in the log-normal turbulence channel shows the same performance as SIM with variance of 0.3. This means that the SIM/SM can be an alternative choice in even worse environments.

In this paper, N-CSK (N parallel Codes Shift Keying) using modified pseudo orthogonal M-sequence sets (MPOMSs) to realize the parallel combinatory spread spectrum (PC/SS) communication system for the optical communications is proposed. Moreover, the upper bound of data transmission rate and the bit error rate (BER) performance of this N-CSK system using the chip-level detection are evaluated through theoretical analysis by taking into account the scintillation, background-noise, avalanche photo-diode (APD) noise, thermal noise, and signal dependence noise. It is shown that the upper bound of data transmission rate of the proposed system is better than those of OOK/CDM and SIK/CDM. Moreover, the upper bound of data transmission rate of the proposed system can achieve about 1.5 [bit/chip] when the code length of MPOMS is 64 [chip].

Optical wireless communications is a research topic of extreme interest since it offers high data rate (Gbps data rate), security, and RF interference immunity. However, optical wireless communications places severe restrictions on the communications paths; they must be direct beam connections. To increase the number of users and link robustness, optical wireless communications must be able to operate even when obstacles are placed between transmitters and receivers, so optical micro-cell (OMC) with autonomous beam control can overcome link robustness. In addition, OMC based optical wireless communication yields compact systems. This paper presents the design, an implementation, and a demonstration of a 114 Mbps autonomous beam control optical wireless communication system based on an OMC technique. The robust posture control results optimum downlink alignment and good eye diagram of data transmission.

We have developed a new modulation method--inverted pulse position modulation (I-PPM) and subcarrier inverted pulse position modulation (SC-I-PPM)--that provides superior LED brightness for visible-light communications. In addition, the new modulation method SC-I-PPM is not affected by background light. In this paper, we investigated several modulation methods in details and set up a standard with which to evaluate the performance of modulation methods. Several modulation methods are subjected to experiments to clarify their performance. Experiments show that subcarrier modulation suppresses the influence of background light and that our new modulation best maintains LED brightest.

In this letter, it is shown that a MAP detector can be employed with differential pulse-position modulation (L-DPPM) in an indoor optical wireless system. The MAP detector error performance is evaluated and compared with that of a hard-decision detector and MLSD over an intersymbol interference channel. It is shown that a MAP detector provides superb performance even in a dispersive channel with high DT.

Future electric lights will be comprised of white LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). White LEDs with a high power output are expected to serve in the next generation of lamps. In this paper, an indoor visible data transmission system utilizing white LED lights is proposed. In the proposed system, these devices are used not only for illuminating rooms but also for an optical wireless communication system. This system is suitable for private networks such as consumer communication networks. However, it remains necessary to investigate the properties of white LEDs when they are used as optical transmitters. Based on numerical analyses and computer simulations, it was confirmed that the proposed system could be used for indoor optical transmission.

Since mobile communication systems using optical rays (optical mobile communication systems) do not radiate radio waves from the mobile terminals, they are expected to be used in environments containing sensitive electronic equipment. However, the placement and direction of the optical receivers must be suitably determined for mobile communication because light has high directivity. In optical mobile communication systems, the communication quality varies with the direction of the mobile terminal. Therefore, we examined the angle over which communication is possible at various measurement points and defined it as the communication angle. The mean opinion score (MOS) was obtained to assess the communication quality using the communication angle as a parameter. In this paper, the two situations, walking and sitting down, was considered the way optical mobile communication systems actually used. We found that for walking, when the communication angle was over 180 degrees, the MOS was over 3 and over 50% of users could communicate usefully. When used sitting down, the communication quality did not depend on the communication angle, but only on whether or not the user could communicate in the direction he/she was facing. Thus, if the communication angle in the service area is over 180 degrees, it is possible to communicate in practical situations, even while walking.